Luke Michael starts Preschool

The other day, Luke started preschool at the Chilkat Valley Preschool.  When he came home he was very excited and had obviously had a wonderful day.  He said to Holly, “Mama, there was a new boy in school today.”
Holly said, “Oh, really?” Holly was very surprised to hear that there was a new boy, because [...]

New Steps!

In Alaska, in the winter, footing can be very treacherous.  Especially in SE Alaska.  i grew up in Barrow, and it’s really not that slippery there for most of the year.  In the fall when the snow comes, we skip right past 32 degrees F and go right on down to the sub zero [...]

Mark’s Birthday

I suppose birthdays are important.  When you’re young, they are huge.

This year, Holly wanted to invite all of Mark’s 1st & 2nd grade combined class (with Ms. Kitayama) to a bit “Choice” time at our house.  Choice time is what they call it at school when kids can choose whatever they want to do [...]

Look at us JUMP!

Here’s a fun video of the boys jumping off the steps at church.
 

 
One of the reasons I like the little point and shoots, is that they often have a video feature.  I just don’t think this moment would be the same without the motion and the audio.  Tell me what you [...]

It was one of those days

Parenthood is a tough thing sometimes.
Today I was watching the boys while Holly went to her health screening. 
First I had to get rid of the source of a BAD MOLDY smell in the boys room—which I’d discovered by using a flashlight and checking under the bed—A cupcake that had outlived its usefulness.
Then I assembled [...]

Daddy, you’re bad!

Today was supposed to be a busy day because I was going to go fishing while Holly watched the boys and took them to church and organized the Sunday school classes for the pre-k and 1-3rd grade classes. 
She went early to get everything ready, since John Caleb was sick and had been sick all [...]

A new household cleaning tip from: Yours Truly.

One new and really exciting way to get the lint out of the corners in the kitchen is to use a propane torch.
The torch has several advantages:
1) I can tell where the lint is because it actually lights up as it burns
2) I can see which rooms have been “cleaned” because they are [...]

Plane Rides

Today at the dinner table, we were talking about plane rides with the boys and were recalling that Nana and grandpa John told us that Christiane (one of the boy’s first cousins) went on her first plane ride last week when she was 7.5 years old. 
Mark said, “She was 7 1/2 when she went [...]

Happy Birthday, Luke!

We had two parties for Luke this year.  One on his actual birthday with just family down on the sailboat on the day I got back from fishing and a second birthday down at the cruise ship dock with two other families that have three kids each.
We thought it’d be fun to get the [...]

Let’s play baseball

We were driving in the car yesterday talking about T-ball and baseball when Luke piped up from his car seat in the back row, “Um, daddy? I have a good idea!  Mark can be the catcher, mommy can be the pitcher, I can be the batter, and you can be the vampire.”
Mark said, “LuuuUUKke! There’s [...]